Canadian visa system 'badly flawed' says new report

The Canadian immigration report, which addresses a number of issues including the economy, health and defence, dedicates a chapter to the issuing of visas, in which it asserts that there are deficiencies in the "measures used to identify foreign nationals who may be inadmissible for health, safety or security concerns."

The report goes on to say that while initial training for Canada visa officers is good and there is a support network in place, the tools and risk indicators used by visa officers to identify inadmissible persons are often out of date or unavailable.

A number of recommendations are suggested in the report, which would affect the Canada Border Services Agency and Citizenship and Immigration Canada ("CIC"), among others. All organisations and institutions were consulted in the drafting of the report, and agreed unanimously with the recommendations.

In response to the findings, CIC confirmed that they have already initiated a review of current risk indicators in consultation with security partners, and promised to ensure that "accurate operational guidance is in place for all staff and management involved in the admissibility screening process.” The report indicates that these measures will be completed by June 2012, however the Auditor General’s office notes that CIC had still not implements the quality assurance framework that was developed in response to a previous audit in 2000.

The report has potential to embarrass Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who will meet with US President Barack Obama next month to sign an agreement on closer co-operation on border security.

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The Canadian Visa Bureau is an independent migration consultancy specialising in helping people make their application to the Canadian Embassy.